Corso, J.F. (1954). Scale position and performed melodic octaves. J. Psychol. 37, 297-305

In an attempt to determine the manner in which melodic octaves performed on musical instruments varied in physical extent with shifts in the location of the octaves along the frequency continuum, data were obtained for five highly trained subjects (a violinist, a bassoonist, an alto saxophonist, and two clarinetists) over a wide portion of the equal tempered scale. Treatment of the data involved tests for trends in mean octave extents and tests for linearity of means through appropriate applications of the methods of analysis of variance and covariance, respectively. For each instrument studied, the results indicated a significant trend in mean octave extent to increase with shifts in the location of the performed octaves along the frequency continuum. The hypothesis of linearity of mean octave extent and scale position, however, was in no case tenable. The interpretation of results suggests that the pitch of musical sounds is not directly proportional to the logarithm of frequency and is probably complexly conditioned.